A Southwest Airlines plane's front landing gear collapsed during its arrival at LaGuardia Airport in New York Monday night.
According to a statement from Southwest, of the 150 people on board, five passengers and three flight attendants reported injuries. Following the incident, passengers were transferred from the plane to the terminal:
Southwest Airlines flight 345 landed at New York's LaGuardia at 5:40 PM Eastern Monday evening from Nashville. The aircraft is a Boeing 737-700. Eyewitness reports indicate the aircraft's nose gear collapsed upon landing.
Following the landing, WNYW reports, "[t]he emergency chutes deployed, and first responders guided the passengers off and away from the aircraft."
According to the Associated Press, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey temporarily closed the airport, with one of runways later reopening. In a press conference, the Port Authority said they hoped to have everything reopened Tuesday.
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AP story continues below:
Richard Strauss, who was on a nearby plane waiting to take off for Washington, said the nose of the plane was "completely down on the ground. It's something that I've never seen before. It's bizarre."
A rear stairwell or slide could be seen extending from the Southwest flight, said Strauss, who owns a Washington public relations firm. His plane, which was about 100 yards from the Southwest flight, wasn't allowed to taxi back to the gate, he said.
Bobby Abtahi, an attorney trying to catch a flight to Dallas, was watching from the terminal and heard a crowd reacting to the accident.
"I heard some people gasp and scream. I looked over and saw sparks flying at the front of the plane," he said.
The incident came 16 days after Asiana Flight 214 crash-landed at San Francisco's international airport on July 6, killing two Chinese teenagers; a third was killed when a fire truck ran over her while responding to the crash, authorities said. Dozens of people were injured in that landing, which involved a Boeing 777 flying from South Korea.
This entry has been updated to include video footage and press statements.